Classroom Observation
Preschool is the foundation of all later school and it is crucial to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Coming to preschool might be a big challenge for some kids, they come from a place where they are the prince or princess in other words the center of attention. Preschool on the other hand if full of many kids, some can see this as competition for attention. In this paper I will discuss four different learning center activities for a preschool class. These activates will strengthen fine motor skill, social skills and life skills. The activities that I will present are tracing, cutting, sorting and lacing. Also, the class will consist of students ranging in ages between 3-5 years old. For each activity the learning goal, the objective
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to be reached, the procedures and the necessary material will be stated. Discovering preschool can be made fun and attractive for children and although they might think they are only playing this is a time for developmental milestones. The first activity that I will discuss requires only two materials for each of the five students in each group. The kids in this group can either be boys or girls, this is not a big factor. The materials that will be needed are sheets of paper with printed patterns for the kids to trace and pencils. For kids that are not used to using a pencil such as preschoolers it is best to use the big thick pencils so that students can get a better grip on them. Moreover, when the activity is introduced it is best for the teacher to work along with the students, presenting each shape or patter to be traced and directing the students as to how it is that this shape is traced. Most kids might just see a picture but have no idea how to make that shape. Therefore, in this group repetitive instruction is required with a good visual presentation. In some cases where the students might feel sacred to get started, hand over hand instruction can be beneficial for that particular student. The learning goals in this activity is to sharpen fine motor skills and get the students comfortable with making different shapes on their own that later will be letter. For example, the skills learned by tracing a circle can later be used to make the lower case “a”, “b”, and “o” even the letter “c”. Additionally, making lines can later help the kids in writing the letter “t”, “l”, and even the letter “v”. As the students discuss amongst their peers on different methods used they also work on social skills. The next activity consist of cutting. This will take place in the same class of 3-5 year olds but in a different group. This way as the students move from one center to the next they are excited to be presented with new and different activities with different items to use. This activity also only requires sheets of paper with printed patterns for the students to cut and a pair of children scissors. When presenting this activity it is crucial that the teacher demonstrates first how and where each finger is placed on the scissors; as well as the way the scissors should be gripped and the motion that is to be taken in order to effectively cut the paper in the direction of each line. This activity may be a bit tricky for some student because it involves good hand coordination with the fingers. There are special scissors that only require the student to open and close the scissors rather than the use of fingers, this for those students that might need to take it a step at a time. Then they can progress to the use of regular scissors when they feel more comfortable doing so. The learning goal of this activity is to effectively use scissors and strengthen fine motor skills. Furthermore, the activity in the next group will consist of sorting items by colors. This is a third group activity for the same class or preschoolers ages 3-5, it also can be for boys and girls. This activity involves decision making and planning. This activity will give the student self-confidence and decision making skills that can be useful in math in the years to come. For this activity a set of plastic color sorting bears or buttons is needed as well as a sheet where the bears or buttons are to be sorted depending on what color they are. Each place were the items are to be sorted can be a circle with the name of the color and the color itself. The students job it to separate the items by color and to place them in the correct circle identified by that color until the items run out. The direction should be clear to student and presented with a visual example for the student. This activity can also include counting how many items of each color are in the set for student that are ready to count. The objective of this activity is for student to decide based on the information that is given to them, and to start counting and learning to identify colors by name and color. Counting can also be learned in this activity depending on the cognitive level of students. The last activity that I have selected is lacing.
This is also a very useful skill for students that can assist with writing skills. It also improves their visual perpetual skills and decision making. For the last group the materials that will needed are a lacing card for each of the five 3-5 year old students and lace or strings. The lacing cards can be easily made, it can be a colorful picture of a flower, hand, circle, star or any other that your student might feel attracted to. After finding and printing your picture it can be laminated. When the picture is laminated and cut out you can make holes around it with a hole puncher. Now you are ready to go. It is important that you explain the task and the sequence of actions that are expected. Illustrating to the student as you the teacher places the lace and sewing in one hole to the next one closest in proximity. This activity can be one of discovery for the students. They can learn to tie shoe laces and make bows. As with all other activities the teacher should demonstrate to the group how to lace so that student get a perspective of how it is done. Carefully coordinating eye and hand movement and developing small muscles in the hands. As the muscles develop, children are better able to manipulate objects, fasten clothing, and use tools such as pencils and scissors. Visual Skills is the ability that enables one to make sense out of what is seen. Activities that develop visual motor skills require the child to take in lots of visual information, organize it, and then complete the
activity. To conclude, preschool is time of leaning and fun, not only do students learn skills that will be life lasting in the classroom, but also lean social skill and friendship. At this age between 3-5, students are like sponges and they easily link skills from the classroom to other daily activities. It is important to us as educator to keep in mind the impact that our lessons will have in our students in the years to come. In this discovery stage children are setting developmental milestones that will be essential in their future life. Tracing will soon lead to independent writing, cutting will fast become a skill that the kids will do without having to concentrate as hard on, this as they create muscle memory. Sorting will assist students in various math problems and in daily activates as they learn to mix certain thing and separate others. Moreover, lacing also will became routine. All the activities that I have presented help the student refine their fine motor skills that will be used for the rest of their life. The activities that I have presented for groups also promote sharing and taking turns, it is common for a student to prefer one activity over the other. However, working in groups with more than one students can sometimes mean waiting for your turn to do your preferred activity. Moreover, all of these activates are open to the whole class no matter your culture or gender.
to be reached, the procedures and the necessary material will be stated. Discovering preschool can be made fun and attractive for children and although they might think they are only playing this is a time for developmental milestones. The first activity that I will discuss requires only two materials for each of the five students in each group. The kids in this group can either be boys or girls, this is not a big factor. The materials that will be needed are sheets of paper with printed patterns for the kids to trace and pencils. For kids that are not used to using a pencil such as preschoolers it is best to use the big thick pencils so that students can get a better grip on them. Moreover, when the activity is introduced it is best for the teacher to work along with the students, presenting each shape or patter to be traced and directing the students as to how it is that this shape is traced. Most kids might just see a picture but have no idea how to make that shape. Therefore, in this group repetitive instruction is required with a good visual presentation. In some cases where the students might feel sacred to get started, hand over hand instruction can be beneficial for that particular student. The learning goals in this activity is to sharpen fine motor skills and get the students comfortable with making different shapes on their own that later will be letter. For example, the skills learned by tracing a circle can later be used to make the lower case “a”, “b”, and “o” even the letter “c”. Additionally, making lines can later help the kids in writing the letter “t”, “l”, and even the letter “v”. As the students discuss amongst their peers on different methods used they also work on social skills. The next activity consist of cutting. This will take place in the same class of 3-5 year olds but in a different group. This way as the students move from one center to the next they are excited to be presented with new and different activities with different items to use. This activity also only requires sheets of paper with printed patterns for the students to cut and a pair of children scissors. When presenting this activity it is crucial that the teacher demonstrates first how and where each finger is placed on the scissors; as well as the way the scissors should be gripped and the motion that is to be taken in order to effectively cut the paper in the direction of each line. This activity may be a bit tricky for some student because it involves good hand coordination with the fingers. There are special scissors that only require the student to open and close the scissors rather than the use of fingers, this for those students that might need to take it a step at a time. Then they can progress to the use of regular scissors when they feel more comfortable doing so. The learning goal of this activity is to effectively use scissors and strengthen fine motor skills. Furthermore, the activity in the next group will consist of sorting items by colors. This is a third group activity for the same class or preschoolers ages 3-5, it also can be for boys and girls. This activity involves decision making and planning. This activity will give the student self-confidence and decision making skills that can be useful in math in the years to come. For this activity a set of plastic color sorting bears or buttons is needed as well as a sheet where the bears or buttons are to be sorted depending on what color they are. Each place were the items are to be sorted can be a circle with the name of the color and the color itself. The students job it to separate the items by color and to place them in the correct circle identified by that color until the items run out. The direction should be clear to student and presented with a visual example for the student. This activity can also include counting how many items of each color are in the set for student that are ready to count. The objective of this activity is for student to decide based on the information that is given to them, and to start counting and learning to identify colors by name and color. Counting can also be learned in this activity depending on the cognitive level of students. The last activity that I have selected is lacing.
This is also a very useful skill for students that can assist with writing skills. It also improves their visual perpetual skills and decision making. For the last group the materials that will needed are a lacing card for each of the five 3-5 year old students and lace or strings. The lacing cards can be easily made, it can be a colorful picture of a flower, hand, circle, star or any other that your student might feel attracted to. After finding and printing your picture it can be laminated. When the picture is laminated and cut out you can make holes around it with a hole puncher. Now you are ready to go. It is important that you explain the task and the sequence of actions that are expected. Illustrating to the student as you the teacher places the lace and sewing in one hole to the next one closest in proximity. This activity can be one of discovery for the students. They can learn to tie shoe laces and make bows. As with all other activities the teacher should demonstrate to the group how to lace so that student get a perspective of how it is done. Carefully coordinating eye and hand movement and developing small muscles in the hands. As the muscles develop, children are better able to manipulate objects, fasten clothing, and use tools such as pencils and scissors. Visual Skills is the ability that enables one to make sense out of what is seen. Activities that develop visual motor skills require the child to take in lots of visual information, organize it, and then complete the
activity. To conclude, preschool is time of leaning and fun, not only do students learn skills that will be life lasting in the classroom, but also lean social skill and friendship. At this age between 3-5, students are like sponges and they easily link skills from the classroom to other daily activities. It is important to us as educator to keep in mind the impact that our lessons will have in our students in the years to come. In this discovery stage children are setting developmental milestones that will be essential in their future life. Tracing will soon lead to independent writing, cutting will fast become a skill that the kids will do without having to concentrate as hard on, this as they create muscle memory. Sorting will assist students in various math problems and in daily activates as they learn to mix certain thing and separate others. Moreover, lacing also will became routine. All the activities that I have presented help the student refine their fine motor skills that will be used for the rest of their life. The activities that I have presented for groups also promote sharing and taking turns, it is common for a student to prefer one activity over the other. However, working in groups with more than one students can sometimes mean waiting for your turn to do your preferred activity. Moreover, all of these activates are open to the whole class no matter your culture or gender.